N54 Negative issues

[vintagetrks@icloud.com]

I'm the proud new owner of a 2010 BMW Z4 35I and absolutely love it but I'm seeing so much Negative info about it's twin turbo N54 engine. It's making a little nervous. My ride has only 56k on the odometer and seems super strong so I'm wondering why so much negativity towards the N54.

[paris1]

And you weren't aware of those comments/issues prior to purchasing?!

[OnlyGerman]

That's low mileage, I wouldn't be concerned. Especially if stock

[vintagetrks@icloud.com]

It's Stock I'm not gonna do any tuning to it as I'm plenty happy with the performance just plan on maintaining it. I might upgrade the charge pipe to an aluminum one but thats about it.

[vintagetrks@icloud.com]

Originally Posted by paris1

And you weren't aware of those comments/issues prior to purchasing?!

Nope I was gonna buy a Porsche and stumbled on this car and found that it had better power and a hardtop convertible which I love hard tops.

[vintagetrks@icloud.com]

Nope I was gonna buy a Porsche and stumbled on this car and found that it had better power and a hardtop convertible which I love hard tops.

[paris1]

Originally Posted by vintagetrks@icloud.com

Nope I was gonna buy a Porsche and stumbled on this car and found that it had better power and a hardtop convertible which I love hard tops.

As you can tell from the posts on this site, there's a lot that can go wrong with these cars and when it does they're expensive to repair. So you'd better budget for that probability. I've got 70k on a 2013 and have been pretty lucky with repairs since going warranty-less in Feb. of 2017. I stay on top of things, have a good relationship with my SA at the local dealer and a reputable indie shop if things really go south. I've spent about $4k on repairs since the factory warranty expired (of which I was refunded $1k as a result of a class action suit over water pumps a year or two ago). Good luck with yours.

[tranquility]

There was a class action over water pumps? What were the details as I thought it was just a consumable? Only heard of compensation for fuel injectors and HPFP.

[KennyP]

Well i bought mine 6 years ago with around 52k miles on it.
During my 6 years of ownership i have spent around 8k eur on repairs, maintenance and keeping it looking nice(paint, paintcorrection etc)

i already had index 12 injectors on my car.. Probably previous(first) owner had them replaced.
Issues i have had:
*Front adaptive shocks started leaking: Replaced with KW V3 suspension. Cost about 2k eur
*Valve cover leaked: Replaced with new oem valvecover. Cost around 500 eur
*Oil filter housing gasket leak: Replaced seals, serpentine belt and tensioner. Cost i guess around 300 eur.
* DCT Oil pan gasket leaked a bit: Repaired by doing DCT oil change service that included new gasket. Cost around 500 eur. This included rear differential oil change.
*Rear main seal leak: Replaced both front and rear main seals. For rear seal had to drop the gearbox. Cost dont remember but it was a 2 day job so around 600 maybe more.
*Loosing coolant due to cracks in waterpump plastic housing: Replaced waterpump and thermostat. Cost around 500+ eur.
*Front left tension strut bushing was getting worn: Replaced all front control arms with M3 arms. Cost around 300-400 eur.
* Steering wheel leather was getting too worn: Refurbished it with new Nappa leather. Cost around 200 eur.

Other maintenance i have done:
Replaced all coilpacks. Cost around 160 eur. (Delphi brand)
Replaced boost solenoids. Cost was about 100 eur maybe. (Pierburg brand)
Replaced all vacuum lines. Cost maybe 20 eur.
Replaced convertible top salmon relays.
Replaced all 4 wheel bearings. Cost i dont remember. Did fronts first and rears a bit later.
Replaced all exterior Bmw badges including center caps. Cost around 200 eur.
Carbon cleaning on intake valves. Cost around 400 eur. (No walnut blasting available in my country so alot more labor intensive job)

New brakes: discs, pads sensors cost around 1000 eur. Have serviced brakes twice. First time i did pads only. Second time i did disc aswell.
Used Bmw OEM pads, Bosch sensors and discs came from Ate.

Also have spent alot for Mequiars car cosmetics like leather cleaners, interior detailers, wax etc. Cars been to paint correction twice. Used to wax my car often but last time i had it polished i went with ceramic coating. paint correction with ceramic coating cost around 500 eur.


At the moment my car is at the workshop getting a new alternator and also getting all new steering tie rods, stabilizer bushings and end links.

Mileage at the moment is somewhere around 71k miles.
Considering how little i have actually driven it (20k miles in 6 years) it is a bit high maintenance... Especially when coming from some very reliable japanese car brand like Honda or Toyota.
You always have to have 1-2k eur somewhere ready for repairs with these cars. And be ready to have your car sometimes be down and unusable, waiting for parts and repairs.

[B21]

Like Kenny P I have a 35is I bought a year ago..

Since then mandatory changes were..

Index 12s 6 off..I could have got away with 2 but I went for the full set

New coils 6 off..again 1 failed but I replaced all 6...did the plugs at the same time

Front shocks leaking fluid, damping on all four suspect and springs sagging..replaced with Ohlins R+T

Yesterday the water pump failed 400 miles from home..

Mileage when bought 50k ..mileage now 60k

Not mandatory but..

Replaced front end steering linkages, steering tie rods, front arb tie rods, frnat and rear arbs, rear trailing arm bushes, rear camber arms...all worn and making the handling even more sloppy..

DCT pan replaced with alloy one as it was weeping a bit

You have to bear in mind that the same chassis is used for a 4 cylinder 156 bhp manual through to a 335bhp 6 cylinder auto with few changes..so the extra weight, heat and power all take their toll...

[paris1]

It does make one wonder why we put up with this kind of “un-reliability” when there are so many alternatives.

[paris1]

Originally Posted by tranquility

There was a class action over water pumps? What were the details as I thought it was just a consumable? Only heard of compensation for fuel injectors and HPFP.

Process began about three years ago and took a year or so to conclude. Payout was up to $1k (for a repair that cost me $1.3k). It’s history now, so don’t expect any retroactive actions.

[KennyP]

Originally Posted by B21

L ...rear arbs, rear trailing arm bushes, rear camber arms...all worn and making the handling even more sloppy..

Refreshing rear suspension parts is next on my list... Dont really hear any noises etc yet but i think its time is coming. I also want to change some bushings out with balljoints (from E85 Z4M i think).
if you google "Slightly fettled Z4 35i" you find a Pistonheads forum thread where someone did replace rubber bushes within the rear hub and swapped them for the ball joints from the old Z4M. That thread also has partnumber for those balljoints. So im planning on trying that modification.

[B21]

Originally Posted by KennyP

Refreshing rear suspension parts is next on my list... Dont really hear any noises etc yet but i think its time is coming. I also want to change some bushings out with balljoints (from E85 Z4M i think).
if you google "Slightly fettled Z4 35i" you find a Pistonheads forum thread where someone did replace rubber bushes within the rear hub and swapped them for the ball joints from the old Z4M. That thread also has partnumber for those balljoints. So im planning on trying that modification.

Yes all good moves..as discussed the 35i / 35is is very heavy on its steering and suspension components so at the age and mileage it all we be for the good..

Meyle do some OE+ stuff which is very good..I just fitted new steering arms from them and pleased with the change is positivity of the steering..

[Tangent]

Just for a change of pace, here's been my experience with my 2011 35i that I bought at 50,000 miles and currently has 89,000:

Water pump failed at 86,000 miles
Ignition coil failed at ~65,000; replaced all 6 because they're pretty cheap

That's it for repairs, otherwise it's just been regular maintenance.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by paris1

Process began about three years ago and took a year or so to conclude. Payout was up to $1k (for a repair that cost me $1.3k). It’s history now, so don’t expect any retroactive actions.

Tx for the info. Darn, missed that but I wonder if I would've even qualified since my pump supposedly lasted its expected life, and if it was a US-specific payout like for the fuel injectors?


I supposedly got the most out of my water pump before it died and left me stranded by the side of the road (I guess there was nothing I could've done as apparently it just malfunctions w/o any warning signs): 205,000kms/127,000miles/8 years.

[paris1]

Originally Posted by tranquility

Tx for the info. Darn, missed that but I wonder if I would've even qualified since my pump supposedly lasted its expected life, and if it was a US-specific payout like for the fuel injectors?


I supposedly got the most out of my water pump before it died and left me stranded by the side of the road (I guess there was nothing I could've done as apparently it just malfunctions w/o any warning signs): 205,000kms/127,000miles/8 years.

Yes, that's what they do; you never see it coming. Fortunately, I was close enough to home to be able to make it back in "limp home mode", although it took me about 45 minutes to cover a mile and a half. Had to stop every block or two to let it cool down enough to get a decent restart. 127k miles is a great service life for one of these things, especially since they were poorly designed and usually fail at 50-70k miles.

[B21]

Originally Posted by paris1

Yes, that's what they do; you never see it coming. Fortunately, I was close enough to home to be able to make it back in "limp home mode", although it took me about 45 minutes to cover a mile and a half. Had to stop every block or two to let it cool down enough to get a decent restart. 127k miles is a great service life for one of these things, especially since they were poorly designed and usually fail at 50-70k miles.

My water pump let go on our recent tour of the Scottish NC500 at Cape Wrath…the mathematically furthest point from home ..some 400 miles..

It failed at 60k miles on a 2011 35is…

Fortunately I had my Protool diagnostics with me which showed me the faults…

I reset the errors and limped home over 2 days at 45mph-50mph..

In the garage having a later all alloy Pierburg pump and a new Mahle thermostat…

Hopefully that will be my one and only pump I need to fit..

[paris1]

Originally Posted by B21

My water pump let go on our recent tour of the Scottish NC500 at Cape Wrath…the mathematically furthest point from home ..some 400 miles..

It failed at 60k miles on a 2011 35is…

Fortunately I had my Protool diagnostics with me which showed me the faults…

I reset the errors and limped home over 2 days at 45mph-50mph..

In the garage having a later all alloy Pierburg pump and a new Mahle thermostat…

Hopefully that will be my one and only pump I need to fit..

I didn't have the thermostat replaced as the dealer said it tested OK. That was about 2.5 years ago and haven't had any further problems, so I guess I dodged a bullet. In the US, part of the class action settlement was an extended warranty on the replacement pump.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by paris1

Yes, that's what they do; you never see it coming. Fortunately, I was close enough to home to be able to make it back in "limp home mode", although it took me about 45 minutes to cover a mile and a half. Had to stop every block or two to let it cool down enough to get a decent restart. 127k miles is a great service life for one of these things, especially since they were poorly designed and usually fail at 50-70k miles.

TX, so mine was the norm or exception? How common were these failures and what should've been the acceptable life?

[paris1]

Originally Posted by tranquility

TX, so mine was the norm or exception? How common were these failures and what should've been the acceptable life?

Yours would be the exception. Failure rate on this item is high. Japanese pumps typically go 100k or more.

[B21]

Originally Posted by paris1

I didn't have the thermostat replaced as the dealer said it tested OK. That was about 2.5 years ago and haven't had any further problems, so I guess I dodged a bullet. In the US, part of the class action settlement was an extended warranty on the replacement pump.

On the grounds that the thermostats do fail, usually open, I just did it whilst the boys were down there…